The International Challenge of Champions is an annual nine-ball pool tournament held at the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Connecticut. It has always been broadcast on ESPN and is sanctioned by the World Pool-Billiard Association.
As of 2009, four invited notable players compete in this single-elimination event. Different from other pool tournaments, this is a winner-take-all event: The winner earns the entire purse of the division (men's or women's);[1] in 2009, the men's-division pot was US$25,000. Winners of either division earn the title "Champion of Champions".
Format
editPromoters describe the geared-for-television event as "international champions ... battling in short, sudden-death shootouts with pressure-cooker formats".[1]
Each match is compose of two sets; each of them is race to 5 and in alternate break. Players lag to determine who shall break in the first set. The player who loses that set will break in the second.
A 30-second shot clock rule is used. This means a player must make a shot within 30 seconds lest the other player will receive ball-in-hand. Each player, however, can call for an extension but only once per rack.
Unlike other 9-ball tournaments, a player must call the 9-ball before pocketing it. Failing to call the shot or the 9-ball going in another pocket other than the one called will result the 9-ball being respotted and the player loses his turn at the table. Also, a player can't win a rack by pocketing the 9-ball in the break.
To win a match, a player has to win both sets. If the sets are split (one player winning the first but other player winning the next), players again lag to break at the one rack decider.
Winners
editMen
edit| Year | Winner | Runner-up |
|---|---|---|
| 1991 |  Mike Lebron
|
 Buddy Hall
|
| 1992 | Buddy Hall
|
Johnny Archer
|
| 1993 | Allen Hopkins
|
Jim Rempe
|
| 1994 | Nick Varner
|
Tony Ellin
|
| 1995 |  Chao Fong-pang
|
 Takeshi Okumura
|
| 1996 |  Ralf Souquet
|
Earl Strickland
|
| 1997 | Oliver Ortmann
|
Chao Fong-pang
|
| 1998 | Lee Kun-fang
|
Kunihiko Takahashi
|
| 1999 |  Francisco Bustamante
|
Oliver Ortmann
|
| 2000 | Oliver Ortmann (2)
|
Francisco Bustamante
|
| 2001 | Chao Fong-pang (2)
|
Francisco Bustamante
|
| 2002 | Efren Reyes
|
 Mika Immonen
|
| 2003 | Francisco Bustamante (2)
|
 John Horsfall
|
| 2004 | Thomas Engert
|
Thorsten Hohmann
|
| 2005 | Chao Fong-pang (3)
|
Thomas Engert
|
| 2006 | Johnny Archer
|
Thorsten Hohmann
|
| 2007 |  Niels Feijen
|
Lee Van Corteza
|
| 2008 |  Fu Jianbo
|
Dennis Orcollo
|
| 2009 | Mika Immonen
|
 Darren Appleton
|
| 2010 | Mika Immonen (2)
|
Francisco Bustamante
|
| 2011 | Darren Appleton
|
Huidji See
|
| 2012 | Darren Appleton (2)
|
Shane Van Boening
|
| 2014 | Thorsten Hohmann
|
Darren Appleton
|
| 2015 | Shane Van Boening
|
Niels Feijen
|
| 2016 |  Jayson Shaw
|
Shane Van Boening
|
Top performers
edit| Name | Nationality | Winner | Runner-up | Finals |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chao Fong-pang | Chinese Taipei
|
3 | 1 | 4 |
| Francisco Bustamante | Philippines
|
2 | 3 | 5 |
| Darren Appleton | England
|
2 | 4 | |
| Mika Immonen | Finland
|
1 | 3 | |
| Oliver Ortmann | Germany
| |||
| Shane Van Boening |  United States
|
1 | 2 | |
| Thorsten Hohmann | Germany
| |||
| Buddy Hall | United States
|
1 | 2 | |
| Johnny Archer | United States
| |||
| Niels Feijen | Netherlands
| |||
| Thomas Engert | Germany
|
- In the event of identical records, players are sorted in alphabetical order by first name.
References
edit- ^ a b "Meet the Players in 'Champion of Champion' Tournaments (Sept. 29 – Oct. 1)". Pool & Billiard Magazine. 2015. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
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